by Glenn Fleishman
The folks at Boingo Wireless play their own game of Katamari Damacy, rolling up
hundreds of disparate Wi-Fi hotspot networks and tens of thousands of hotspots
around the world into one flat-priced footprint. They now support Mac users
through a lightweight application - GoBoingo - designed to make it easier to
connect to hotspots that are part of their network than typing in a user name
and password.
Before the GoBoingo client was released officially today, you could sign up for
a Boingo account and at most hotspots in the company's network enter your
credentials manually. I have been subscribing to Boingo most recently since
January, and have used dozens of hotspots in that more tedious method.
(Typically, you have to look for a partner link on the main gateway page for a
hotspot, then select Boingo, and then enter your user name and password.)
GoBoingo has no user interface as such. Once installed, it runs in the
background, and alerts you when a Boingo partner network is in the vicinity. You
then enter your login details - if you haven't connected before - and you're
informed about cost if your plan requires a payment.
by Glenn Fleishman
The folks at Boingo Wireless play their own game of Katamari Damacy, rolling up
hundreds of disparate Wi-Fi hotspot networks and tens of thousands of hotspots
around the world into one flat-priced footprint. They now support Mac users
through a lightweight application - GoBoingo - designed to make it easier to
connect to hotspots that are part of their network than typing in a user name
and password.
Before the GoBoingo client was released officially today, you could sign up for
a Boingo account and at most hotspots in the company's network enter your
credentials manually. I have been subscribing to Boingo most recently since
January, and have used dozens of hotspots in that more tedious method.
(Typically, you have to look for a partner link on the main gateway page for a
hotspot, then select Boingo, and then enter your user name and password.)
GoBoingo has no user interface as such. Once installed, it runs in the
background, and alerts you when a Boingo partner network is in the vicinity. You
then enter your login details - if you haven't connected before - and you're
informed about cost if your plan requires a payment.
Boingo has two recurring unlimited service options: $22 per month for about
60,000 hotspots in the U.S., or $39 per month for about 100,000 hotspots
worldwide. The company requires no contract. With a Boingo account, you can also
purchase 24-hour passes to the network for $8, and have it billed to whatever
credit card is associated with your Boingo account.
Readers with long memories will recall that Boingo did have a slightly more
complicated Macintosh client a few years ago (see "Boingo for Macintosh
Launches," 2005-01-10). That software apparently continued to work through Mac
OS X 10.4 Tiger, but didn't function under Leopard.
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